Querying one Web Intelligence document from another allows you to transform a document into a reliable, controlled, and reusable data source.
This feature supports several use cases:
- You can schedule a document that queries a large dataset to refresh during quiet periods. Other documents can then use this document as a data source. These documents do not query the original data sources. Instead, they use the dataset saved in the source document. This reduces the load on the original data sources and improves refresh times.
- You can prepare metadata, such as merged dimensions, geographic dimensions, time dimensions, and variables, and share it through a source document.
- You can also use a document that queries many different data sources as a single metadata provider. This hides the complexity of the data sources from other users.
Steps to Create a Query from a Web Intelligence Document
In the Select a Data Source dialog box, you can find the SAP BI Platform Repository category, which includes Web Intelligence Document.
When you build a new query using a Web Intelligence document, you can browse the SAP BI Platform Repository by Personal Categories, Corporate Categories, Favorites, Personal Folders, and Public Folders.
By default, when you create a document based on another document and run a query, the new document retrieves data from the source document’s cube.
To load data from sources beyond the source document during a refresh, you must enable the Keep Data Up-To-Date on Refresh option in the Query panel. In this case, Web Intelligence loads the most recent data from all underlying data sources. If the source document contains prompts, you must provide answers to these prompts before the refresh continues.
The refresh applies only to the first level. If the data source document queries another Web Intelligence document, that second document does not refresh.
The Query panel appears and looks the same no matter which data source you use. It includes three main panes:
- The Data Outline pane lists objects available in the data source.
- The Results Objects pane lists objects to include in your analysis.
- The Query Filters pane lists filters you can apply to your query.
When your query is complete, click Run.
After the refresh, the objects that your query consists of appear in the Objects tab. You can use them to feed the tables and charts in your report like you would for any data source. If you add merged dimensions, geographical dimensions, or time dimensions to the source document, the system retrieves them as well.
Let's Summarize What You've Learned
- Use a Web Intelligence document as a data source to share and reuse metadata across multiple documents.
- Expose dimensions, measures, hierarchies, and variables from the source document to target documents.
- Improve performance and reduce data source load by scheduling refreshes and using saved datasets.
- Enable the Keep Data Up-To-Date on Refresh option to retrieve the latest data from underlying sources.